What Role Does Infill Play in Turf Maintenance?
Keeping your artificial turf looking lush and green is all about proper turf maintenance. While regular maintenance using turf cleaning products and brushing play a crucial role in the upkeep of your turf lawn, there is another component that often goes unnoticed — infill.
Infill, despite its small size, plays a big role in maintaining the durability and appearance of your artificial turf. However, over time, your infill can shift, and your infill levels can lower as the material gets carried away by the wind, birds, or rough weather. To keep your lawn looking its best and performing at the highest level, maintaining your infill is imperative. Here’s why infill is a crucial component of any artificial grass maintenance routine — especially if you’re a pet owner.
What Is Infill?
Infill refers to the small, granular material placed between the blades of artificial turf, filling the space between each turf blade. Infill can be made from a variety of materials, such as silica sand or zeolites. Many infill products are also coated with special coatings that prevent bacteria growth and eliminate odors.
Infill has numerous practical benefits that range from providing stability and support to making your turf feel softer underfoot. Infill’s primary function is to help the turf fibers maintain their upright position by providing support and preventing matting. It also shields the turf’s backing from the sun’s UV rays, preventing cracking and gradual wear. Infill also helps mimic the feeling of natural grass underfoot by replicating how soil absorbs impacts, providing a cushioning that makes synthetic grass comfortable to use year-round.
How Much Infill Do You Need?
Using the right amount of infill is crucial for the overall performance and longevity of your artificial grass. Too little infill can cause the turf to lay flat and become stiff, causing premature wear and tear, while too much infill can make the turf unstable and detract from its appearance.
The exact amount of infill required for your artificial turf lawn will depend on several factors, including the turf product, its intended use, your foot traffic levels, and the local climate. If you’re not sure exactly how much to use, we recommend following the general rule of applying one to two pounds of infill per square foot. This means that a 50-pound bucket of infill will cover approximately 50 square feet of your yard. However, this value reflects an initial application of infill where none already exists on your lawn. If you’re topping up your infill as part of an artificial grass maintenance routine, you’ll likely need much less product.
What Is the Best Infill for Pets?
There are several varieties of infill available, including some that are specially designed to be pet-friendly and odor-eliminating. For homes with pets or for pet-friendly commercial properties, TurFill infill is the industry’s leading choice.
Unlike silica sand and rubber infill, TurFill has absorbent properties and can effectively trap any liquid that may cause odors, such as pet urine. TurFill also contains natural enzymes that trap and neutralize odor-causing bacteria. This prevents the odor from being released into the air, providing long-lasting odor control that is far more effective than turf deodorizers that simply mask odors with strong fragrances. It’s also all-natural, non-toxic, and completely safe for kids and pets, making it ideal for all households and applications. At TurFresh, we believe in its effectiveness so strongly that it’s the infill we use for our own five-star, industry-leading artificial grass maintenance services.
If you don’t want to worry about topping up your infill or performing routine artificial grass maintenance, consider professional turf maintenance services. TurFresh’s 10-point cleaning process can be scheduled as often as you need us, whether that’s once a week or twice a year. If you prefer to do it yourself, you can visit the TurFresh online store to purchase our best-selling TurFill infill or TurFresh BioS+ turf deodorizer for at-home turf maintenance. If you’d like to learn more about TurFresh’s artificial turf maintenance service or book your first appointment, give us a call at 855-444-8873 or fill out our online contact form today.